Proton Mail facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Proton Mail

Screenshot of the Proton Mail website, showing the conversation view of a message in a user's inbox
Available in	English, Catalan, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, Ukrainian
Headquarters	Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland
Owner	Proton AG
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Required
Users	100 million (April 2023)
Launched	May 16, 2014; 11 years ago (2014-05-16)
Current status	Online

Proton Mail is a special email service from Switzerland. It was started in 2013 and is known for keeping your emails super private. It uses something called end-to-end encryption. This means your emails are scrambled and protected before they even leave your computer. This is different from other email services like Gmail or Outlook.com.

Proton Mail is run by a company called Proton AG. They also offer other privacy tools like Proton VPN (for safe internet browsing) and Proton Drive (for secure file storage). Proton Mail first got money from people who supported their idea online. While you can get a free account, paid plans help keep the service running. It started by invitation only, but since 2016, anyone can sign up. By 2022, nearly 70 million people were using Proton Mail!

How Proton Mail Started

On May 16, 2014, Proton Mail launched its first public test version. So many people wanted to try it that they had to pause new sign-ups to make their servers bigger! A couple of months later, they raised over $550,000 from more than 10,000 supporters online.

In March 2015, Proton Mail received more funding to help them grow. On August 14, 2015, they released a big update, version 2.0. This update made their website work much better. Then, on March 17, 2016, version 3.0 came out. This was the official launch of Proton Mail, no longer just a test. It also included new apps for phones and tablets.

New Features Over Time

On January 19, 2017, Proton Mail added a special way to access their service using the Tor network. This helps users stay even more anonymous. Later that year, they launched Proton Mail Contacts. This feature keeps your contact list private and secure.

In December 2017, they released Proton Mail Bridge. This app lets you use Proton Mail's strong encryption with other email programs like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. On July 25, 2018, Proton Mail added support for Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). This made it easier for Proton Mail users to send encrypted emails to people using other PGP services.

Open Source and Updates

Proton Mail has made parts of its software open source. This means that experts can check the code to make sure it's secure. They've opened up their website code, mobile apps, and the Bridge app.

In May 2022, Proton AG updated the look of all its products, including Proton Mail. Now, if you have a paid Proton Mail plan, you also get access to Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, and Proton Pass. In April 2024, Proton Mail launched desktop apps for Windows and macOS. A version for Linux is also being tested.

How Proton Mail Keeps Your Emails Safe

Proton Mail uses advanced methods to keep your emails private. It uses a mix of public-key cryptography and symmetric encryption. When you create an account, your computer makes two special keys:

• The public key scrambles your emails.
• The private key unscrambles them. This private key is also protected by your password.

This scrambling happens on your computer using a strong method called AES-256. When you sign up, you create a password for your account.

Two-Password Mode

Proton Mail also lets you use a two-password system.

• One password is for logging into your account.
• The second password unlocks your encrypted emails and contacts.

This means Proton Mail itself cannot read your emails. They only store your keys in their scrambled form. So, even if someone asked them to, they couldn't give out your email content. This system helps protect your privacy.

Proton Mail always uses a secure connection (HTTPS and TLS) when you connect to their servers. This keeps your internet traffic safe from prying eyes.

Sending Encrypted Emails

When you send an email from one Proton Mail account to another, it's automatically encrypted. Only the person receiving it can unscramble and read the message.

You can also send encrypted emails to people who don't use Proton Mail. You set a password for the email. The recipient gets a link to a special Proton Mail page where they can enter the password and read the message. You need to share this password with them separately, like over the phone. These special emails can even be set to disappear after a certain time!

Masked Email Addresses

In 2022, Proton Mail added a feature called "masked email." This lets you create temporary or fake email addresses. These addresses forward emails to your real inbox. This helps protect your main email address from spam or unwanted messages. You can use this service with any email provider.

Where Proton Mail is Located

Proton Mail is based in Switzerland. They chose Switzerland because it has very strong privacy laws. This helps protect your data from requests by other countries. Switzerland is not part of groups like the "Fourteen Eyes," which share surveillance information.

Proton Mail also offers two-factor authentication. This adds an extra layer of security to your account. You might use a special code from an app or a security key to log in.

Data Centers

Proton Mail has two data centers in Switzerland. One is in Lausanne, and the other is in an old military bunker deep underground in Attinghausen. These locations are very secure. Since the servers are in Switzerland, they are protected by Swiss law. This means any requests for user information from other countries must go through a Swiss court. Users are usually told about these requests and can fight them in court.

Each data center has backup power and uses special hard drives that scramble all the data on them. They also use open-source software, which means the code can be checked by many people for security.

Dealing with Attacks

From November 3-7, 2015, Proton Mail faced several large attacks that tried to make their service unavailable. These are called DDoS attacks. During these attacks, Proton Mail said they were looking for new data centers because of how big the attacks were.

In July 2018, Proton Mail reported more DDoS attacks. Their CEO, Andy Yen, said that someone had paid the attackers. In September 2018, a person suspected of attacking Proton Mail was arrested in the UK.

Blocks in Some Countries

Sometimes, governments try to block Proton Mail.

• In November 2019, the government of Belarus blocked Proton Mail and Proton VPN. However, the block was lifted just four days later without explanation.
• On January 29, 2020, Russia blocked Proton Mail. Russia said it was because Proton Mail didn't give them information about accounts sending threats. But Proton Mail said they never received any such requests. Proton Mail suggested users in Russia use VPNs or Tor to get around the block. Proton Mail has also added new features to help users in countries where the service is blocked.

Following Swiss Laws

Proton Mail must follow Swiss court orders if Swiss laws are broken. In 2020, they received over 3,500 orders from Swiss authorities and fought against about 750 of them. Because of their strong encryption, Proton Mail cannot give out the content of your encrypted emails. However, under Swiss law, they might be asked to record your IP address as part of a criminal investigation. If you need to hide your identity from the Swiss government, Proton Mail suggests using their Tor hidden service.

In October 2021, Proton Mail won an important court case in Switzerland. The court agreed that email services are not like phone companies. This means email services don't have to keep records of who you talk to or when.

Types of Accounts

Proton Mail offers different types of accounts for individuals and businesses.

• The free Proton Mail account usually starts with 500 MB of storage. You can increase it to 1GB by meeting certain requirements.

Here are the account types for businesses:

Images for kids

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  Proton Mail logo

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  Screenshot of the Proton Mail website

See also

In Spanish: Proton Mail para niños

• Comparison of mail servers
• Comparison of webmail providers